Director of Member Services (Director of Membership)

Job Description:\n\nThe Executive Leadership Council is the preeminent member organization for the development of diverse global leaders. Comprised of more than 800 current and former corporate CEOs, board members and senior executives at Fortune 1000 & Global 500 companies, entrepreneurs leading top-tier firms, and recognized thought leaders, we open channels of opportunity for the development of executives to positively impact business and communities. We are currently seeking a Director of Member Services (Director of Membership) to join the Member Services team in our Washington, DC office. Position Overview The Director of Member Services serves as the senior operational leader of the Member Services department and reports directly to the VP of Member Services. This role is responsible for the day-to-day leadership, execution, and delivery of all member services programs and initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy and the delivery of a high-quality, consistent member experience. Acting as both a strategic and executional partner to the VP, the Director translates vision into action-overseeing program delivery, team performance, budget management, and continuous improvement across the department. This role requires strong business acumen, exceptional attention to detail, and the ability to lead complex initiatives from concept through execution in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment. The Director of Member Services is the primary owner of departmental operations and serves as the VPs key delegate in managing the function. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS & KEY OUTCOMES Project & Program ManagementOversee the end-to-end planning, execution, and evaluation of the overall membership strategy, initiatives, and programming, including, but not limited to management of the organization's membership committee, membership application process, new member onboarding, membership database and membership dues process.Serve as the final point of accountability for program timelines, deliverables, quality, and outcomes.Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure timely, efficient, and aligned delivery of programs.Implement and refine project management systems, tools, and best practices to enhance operational efficiency and scalability.Monitor project progress, proactively identify risks, and adjust plans as necessary to meet organizational objectives. Budget ManagementOwn the development, management, and oversight of the Member Services departmental budget.Monitor expenditures and forecasts to ensure financial accountability and alignment with strategic priorities.Prepare and deliver regular financial reports, projections, and insights to the VP.Identify opportunities for cost efficiencies, resource optimization, and strategic reallocation of funds.Partner with Finance and the VP to make informed tradeoff decisions that balance impact, quality, and cost. Strategic Partnership & ExecutionServe as a trusted strategic and executional partner to the VP of Member Services.Lead the translation of high-level organizational and experience goals into detailed operational plans and departmental priorities.Proactively identify opportunities, risks, and gaps in execution and provide data-driven insights and recommendations to the VP.Leverage member data, performance metrics, and feedback to refine strategies and improve program effectiveness.Represent Member Services in cross-functional discussions and initiatives, ensuring alignment with broader organizational priorities. Team Leadership & Department ManagementServe as the primary day-to-day leader of the Member Services department, setting priorities, operating rhythms, and performance expectations.Act as a conduit between the VP and the Member Services team, ensuring clear communication, alignment, and follow-through.Foster a collaborative, high-performing, and accountable team culture.Mentor, coach, and develop team members, building leadership capacity and strengthening operational excellence.Promote clarity of roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority across the department. Performance Measurement & ReportingEstablish and oversee key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success and impact of Member Services programs.Analyze program and operational data to identify trends, risks, and areas for continuous improvement.Prepare executive-level updates on performance, outcomes, and challenges for the VP and other senior stakeholders.Ensure performance insights are translated into actionable improvements across programs and processes. General DutiesContribute to the achievement of established department goals and objectives and adhere to department policies, procedures, quality standards, and safety standards.Maintain current professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing professional networks, and participating in professional associations.Ability to work in a fast-paced office environment, demonstrating a flexible approach with short deadlines.Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality improvement.Ability to maintain high project organization, multitask, and a focus on quality of results with attention to detail in a fast-paced environment. Create and manage a seamless information sharing workflow within the Member Services department and the overall organization. Perform other duties as needed. EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & CREDENTIALSA Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Management, Non-Profit Leadership or another relevant academic discipline. Master's preferred. A minimum of 7 years progressive responsible experience in Project Management and/or Program Management. 10+ years of experience preferred.A minimum of 3-5 years of progressive responsible experience in strategic leadership role.Demonstrated experience leading a function, team, or complex portfolio of programs with a high degree of autonomy.Demonstratable experience with corporate relationship management is preferred.Strong business acumen with proven experience in budget management and financial analysis.Exceptional attention to detail, organizational skills, and operational discipline.Proven ability to drive initiatives from concept through execution and deliver measurable results.Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience engaging senior leaders and cross-functional partners.Proficient knowledge of project management systems (e.g., Microsoft Project, Asana, Monday.com, Basecamp, etc.).Working knowledge of CRM & data management systems (e.g., Google Analytics, Salesforce, Hubspot, etc). COMPETENCIES • Mission Alignment & Awareness: Has a passion for and commitment to opening channels of opportunity for the development of Black professionals to positively impact business and local communities; contributes to the organization by understanding and aligning actions with the organization's goals, core functions, and values. • Business Development Operations: Applies a strong understanding of the required reporting for different business development functions and for the organization's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); analyzes large amounts of data from multiple sources, including the organization's CRM data, to observe trends or strengths and weaknesses within the data set; develops research and analysis reports that follows the organization's data collection and maintenance policies; consistently follows the organization's data collection and maintenance policies, including completeness, currency, accuracy, and of a high quality. • Relationship Building: Develops and maintains internal and external trusting, professional relationships, including using listening and understanding to build rapport; recognizes the business concerns and perspectives of others and works in a manner that is mutually beneficial; consistently communicates and shares information with others; interacts effectively with people of diverse backgrounds; develops a reputation as a neutral, approachable professional within the department, business units and external contacts; establishes external networks with individuals who can be directly beneficial to the achievement of work-related goals. • Events Management Knowledge: conceives and produces small and/or large-scale in-person and/or virtual events; studies the brand, identifies the target audience, devises the event concept, and coordinates technical aspects and logistics before launching the event; creates schedules and budgets, selects sites, arranges for speakers or entertainers, and contracts and coordinates with event vendors. • Ethics & Integrity: Earns the trust and respect of others through a consistent commitment to integrity, honesty, and professionalism in all interactions. • Strategic Leadership & Execution: Uses vision to think beyond the immediate situation and explore multiple potential paths; ensures that organizational goals are met by executing, monitoring, and adhering to the organizational action plan; implements new initiatives or adapts existing department initiatives to better meet the needs of the organizational mission and vision; communicates departmental goals to ensure short- and medium-term goals are achieved; displays a 'can-do' attitude for achieving results and encourages others to work in a manner that will meet or exceed the desired objectives or results; demonstrates ability to adapt decision making style based on the situational circumstances. • Planning & Results Orientation: Organizes and executes work to meet organizational goals and objectives while meeting quality standards and following organizational processes; ensures individual performance does not negatively impact the performance of others; recommends additional resources that would improve effectiveness and helps others access required resources; identifies opportunities to improve work processes and efficiency; contributes to setting work priorities and direction; identifies in advance when intended results may not be achieved; takes initiative; is not satisfied with the status quo. • Teamwork & Collaboration: Works well cross functionally and with others on the team to achieve personal goals, team goals, and organizational goals; takes responsibility for individual actions in order to achieve consistent results; fosters team camaraderie, collaboration, and cohesion; understands the impact of one's actions on the ability of their team members to do their jobs; respects the differences other team members bring to the table by openly seeking others' opinions; makes suggestions to improve team engagement and effectiveness; supports implementation of team decisions; professionally gives and seeks feedback in order to achieve common goals. • Problem Solving & Decision-Making: Identifies problems and uses logical analysis to find information, understand causes, and evaluate and select best possible courses of action; seeks information and input to fully understand the cause of problems; takes action to remove obstacles and address problems before they impact performance and results; initiates the evaluation of possible solutions to problems; assesses risks before making a decision; does not take unnecessary risks; effectively navigates through ambiguity, using multiple data points to analyze issues and identify trends. • Creativity & Innovation: Thinks beyond the confines of traditional models to recognize opportunities and find new and better ways of doing things; questions common practice and contributes to improvement of processes and outputs; proposes novel ideas; utilizes appropriate brainstorming techniques to generate ideas; researches current thinking and shares ideas; explores different alternatives that would achieve a similar output, with the goal of achieving process simplification or efficiencies. • Resilience & Managing Uncertainty: Adjusts thinking and behavior in order to adapt to changes in the job and work environment with limited stress; is able to work effectively in an unstructured environment; actively promotes and advocates the advantages of changes when new and credible information emerges; acknowledges uncertainty and shares constructive coping strategies with team members. • Communication & Interpersonal Effectiveness: Effectively and appropriately interacts and communicates with others to build positive, constructive, professional relationships; tailors communication style and messages based on the audience; seeks to understand others' points of view, observes verbal and non-verbal cues to encourage open and honest discussions; uses clear, precise, and error-free language; invites and encourages others to participate in discussions; identifies and helps to resolve interpersonal conflict between team members; does not jump to conclusions or act on assumptions. • Customer Focus: Identifies, considers, prioritizes, and takes action on the needs of both internal and external customers; uses knowledge about the customer to inform decision making and problem solving; strives to provide additional value to the customer experience; actively solicits internal and customer feedback in order to improve the relationship; suggests ways to improve the customer experience. • Culture Management: Brings organizational values to life using personality, uniqueness, and the creation of shared vision; demonstrates core values and encourages others to do the same; ensures that individuals and teams are working in a manner that is consistent with organizational values. • Technology: Proficient with Microsoft productivity suite, association management systems, customer relationship management software, event management software, and other functional software relevant to area of responsibility. WORKING CONDITIONSWork is performed in an interior office setting which has no adverse environmental conditions expected.Hybrid Role requiring a minimum of 3 days a month in office with travel up to 30% of the time in the field and/or for meetings, trainings, or organizational events based on organizational needs.Role may require flexibility in work hours at times to accommodate organizational priorities or critical issues.Work involves frequently sitting for extended periods of time, frequently talking or hearing, frequently operating a computer, and occasional light physical effort (lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, etc.) objects weighing up to 25 lbs.Work requires frequent ability to comprehend direction and adhere to policies or established procedures, ability to use logic to make sound decisions, ability to interpret and analyze data, ability to gather and organize information for a wide variety of audiences, ability to read and write a variety of materials, and ability to adapt well in the face of workplace stress.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perf